IrBEA reported earlier in the month that Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) published the draft terms and conditions (including eligibility and sustainability criteria) for the Support Scheme Renewable Heat (SSRH). The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Denis Naughten, T.D. has welcomed the publication and commented.The Support Scheme for Renewable Heat is a key measure to increase renewable energy in the heat sector and decrease emissions. The scheme will also create new commercial opportunities for Ireland’s bioenergy and renewable heat industries. The draft Terms & Conditions are designed to ensure that the heat generated under the SSRH will be sustainable, applied for useful purposes and represent value for money for the taxpayer, said Minister Naughten.

The Support Scheme for Renewable Heat will financially support the replacement of fossil fuel heating systems with renewable energy for non-domestic heat users. The scheme will consist of two types of support mechanism – an operational support for biomass and anaerobic digestion (AD) heating systems and an installation grant for heat pumps. IrBEA believes right now that the levels of support for biomass heating and for biogas appear unchanged from those indicated in December 2017. Furthermore, IrBEA understands from conversations with SEAI that SSRH will be available for all commercial applications – with no lower limit and that the budget for the scheme for biomass has been €18 million per annum for 15 years.

Update on SSRH from Energy in Agriculture Event in August
Delegates and Exhibitors did hear an update from Ray Langton (SEAI Programme Manager of SSRH) this week at the Energy in Agriculture event, he confirmed that heat pumps will open for applications next month but they are still waiting for the state aid approval for the biomass side of the scheme and they hoped this will open before the end of the year. Ray talked through the application process which lined-up broadly into two categories, firstly online application procedures followed by inspections.Online Application Guidelines
Online Application Portal
Project Assessment Application Form
Letter of OfferInspection
Project Installation and Commissioning
Project Inspection and Verification
Payment Stage and Contract
Ongoing Obligation
***************Eligibility Criteria’s were discussed including eligibility of applicants, eligibility of heat, heat use in building, energy efficiency, heat technology, installation standards and project funding. He said all these criteria’s would be closely assessed in the application process before contracts were offered.
Ray Langton commented that the SSRH scheme is going to help meet 2020 targets and help bridge the gap by increasing the renewable heat target by 3% getting closer to 16% target set by the EU Directive. He hopes that the main beneficiaries are commercial, industry, agriculture, district heating, public sector and agriculture. In a Q&A session he commented that any grandfathering terms (biomass installations already completed) will be determined by State Aid rules and they will only be able to accept applications after the date set by EU regulators.